The trial against Thomas, who was fined $222,000 for sharing 24
songs, may go back to court in Duluth, Minn. (The original
complaint had 1,702 songs, but only 24 were brought up at trial).
Thomas's case was the first time a defendant had taken a music
download case all the way to trial.

The issue is semantic – do the record companies only have to
prove that Jammie Thomas made the files available for sharing? Or
must they prove that someone actually downloaded them?

The larger, more important issue here: Besides $222,000 (minus
legal fees!), there's nothing here the record industry can win.
These punishments aren’t a deterrent to music piracy, and while
the music industry is having some
tough times, $222,000 doesn't make a big difference on the
bottom line.

All these verdicts do is alienate people who could be customers,
if there was a legal, digital method that suited them.